Prince Pain in the Ass
by teroinreadsteroinwrites
Summary: "Someone better be dead dying or in jail."


"Someone better be dead dying or in jail" I said, pulling open the door to my apartment.

"None of the above," my boyfriend and a royal pain the ass, Noctis said, entering my apartment and making a beeline for the living room.

"You're lucky I like your face too much to punch you in it," I muttered, heading to the kitchen, making a cup of hot chocolate for myself and tea for Noct. With both beverages in hand I headed to the living room, where Noct was sitting on my couch, video game controller in hand, slashing through the zombies on the screen.

I sat down on, placing his tea on the table in front of him and curled up with the blanket, before taking a sip of my hot chocolate. Finally now that I was comfortable and a considerable about of zombies had been destroyed, I decided to address his presence in my apartment at two-thirty in the morning.

"Can't sleep?" I asked.

"No."

"And the car ride over didn't help?"

"Not at all."

I nodded.

"What's on your mind?"

"I don't know."

I prided myself on being able to read people, on being able to see past all of the bullshit and personas people put on. That's why Noct and I had gotten along so well to begin with. I had seen past the all the royal bullshit, past the weird antisocial behavior and stoicism.

Right now, I could see that he had something on his mind and that whatever it was, was eating at him. He didn't come over in the middle of the night because he couldn't sleep. If it was that simple, he would've stayed home and played video games there.

He was tense, tired and from the way he was chewing on his lip, nervous.

"Uh huh. You do realize that it is the middle of the night? We have school in the morning. I am tired."

"Sorry. I should-"

"You should just tell me what the hell is bothering you that way we can _both_ go to sleep."

"I-" Noct sighed.

"Come on. Emotional constipation is not healthy."

"You don't treat me like a royal."

That was true and pretty damn obvious. I never addressed Noctis by his titles or honorifics, never bowed. I refused to kiss his ass. I made fun of him and I made him do shit for himself most of the time. Most importantly, at least in my opinion, I never held back. I never watered down my opinions or kept the truth from him. Good bad or indifferent, I told him everything straight up.

Up until now apparently, it hadn't been a problem. I thought it's been one of the things he liked about me. That's what he had said.

"No, I don't."

"Why not?" he questioned.

"Because I don't give a shit. Listen, I get that you royals have a lot that you have to deal with. The whole protecting the kingdom bit is a whole lot of work and seems like total drag and you could not pay me enough to deal with all that. You have a lot to deal with. That being said, you are still a person, just like everyone else, and I'm going to treat you like everyone else."

He sat there quietly for a second. He stared down at the controller in his hand. The game had been paused. "It's not because you think that I'm not fit to be king?"

I almost didn't hear him he was so quiet.

"That's what's bothering you?"

I knew that the weight of the crown weighed heavily on Noct. It'd weigh heavily on anyone. There was something different about this.

"Babe, you'll be an amazing king, when the time comes," I said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

He finally looked at me.

"Sure, you're a spoiled brat, but you're not completely and totally out of touch. Plus, you see people. You recognize them. You value them for more than their wealth, status or skill. You treat people like people, like your equals even though we're not. Unless you're being pissy, you're a dick then. I mean look at me or Prom. He and I are thoroughly middle class and really have no business even trying to approach you, yet he's your best friend and we are dating. Never have you treated either of us like we were beneath you. I talk shit on you all of the time, argue with you at any chance and occasionally beat you up. You could have me thrown in jail."

"You-"

"Noct, you're a good person. You're smart. Most importantly, you care about people. You've got an amazing group of people backing you up too. While I have no doubt that you will make mistakes, I know that you will make an amazing king, and I'm happy to know that the future of Lucis rests in your hands."

I ran my hand up and down his back in a comforting motion.

"Thanks," he said, giving me a small smile.

I grinned back at him. "Now, can we go to sleep?" I asked.

He nodded. I stood up, grabbing his hand and pulling him with me.

He pulled me back into his chest smirking at my undignified squeak and unamused glare.

"Love you," he said, kissing me.

"And I love you, but I also love sleep."

With a soft chuckle, he released me and followed me back to my bedroom.

I groaned as I yanked the door open to my apartment. The numbers on my alarm clock read too fucking early for someone to be banging on the fucking door. Noct seemed to be in agreement, since he whined in protest and practically pushed me out of the bed to make it stop.

I glared at the spectacled man on the other side. "Good morning," Ignis greeted as if there was nothing wrong with this scenario.

"Fuck you," I shot in return.

"I assume you-"

"Yeah, yeah," I said heading back the hall towards my bathroom. "He refused to get up, so you can go get him." I pointed towards my room, where Noct had surely fallen back to sleep by now. "I'm gonna take a shower, so if you need help, oh well."


End file.
